Money-Saving Tips for Thanksgiving

Chances are good that you celebrate Thanksgiving in your home. This holiday can leave you feeling overindulged, both physically and financially. You’re on your own for the eating part. As far as saving money goes, here are a few ideas to help you save a couple bucks this year.

Try to shop in advance whenever possible. When the holiday is right around the corner, prices on Thanksgiving dinner items may be raised up a bit more than usual. So, for the food that may be nonperishable, such as cranberry sauce, gravy and even butter, look to buy it a month or two in advance.

Clip as many coupons as you can, and be sure to only use those you need. If you start using coupons just because you have them, it can make you spend more.

If money is an issue, consider a frozen turkey instead of a fresh one. Frozen turkeys are almost always cheaper, and they usually taste just as good. As a bonus, a lot of grocery stores will offer you a free turkey with their rewards card after you spend a certain amount of money.

Try to make as much as you can at home with ingredients you already have. For example, you can make your turkey gravy with the turkey drippings, flour, and seasonings. It may even taste better than what you could get at the store.

Ask for help with making the food. If everyone chips in and brings something, the cost will be drastically reduced. They will likely be happy to lend a hand, and it won’t cost them much since they will only bring one or two things.

In terms of quantity, there are two schools of thought. Some think it best to buy and cook as much food as possible. This way, when you’re done with the meal, the leftovers will feed your family for several days. Doing this saves money — and time — in the long haul because the food is already bought and cooked. Others think it best to only buy what they will eat right then and there. This reduces waste and saves money upfront.

Now you know how you can save money on your Thanksgiving dinner. If you utilize just a few of the tips presented here, you will be well ahead of the curve. Happy Thanksgiving!

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2 Comments

mmms
November 4, 2014

Turkeys are .69 cents a pound at our Safeway stores, there is a 10 dollar off a $50.00 purchase but that doesn’t include the bird, but one can get everything else one needs and use 4 double coupons to boot..Fully cooked turkey dinners are only $49.99 and include everything one can pick up some veggies for before meal snaking and use the $10.00 off of the $50.00 purchase and Voila one can have a huge feast already prepared for little money and lots of leftovers to boot..Only takes a little time to heat up the bird and have everything done, I usually cook from frozen and buy a smaller turkey breast use our counter new Kitchenaid oven and make a big feast it lasts us for a full week, we don’t eat the turkey everyday, soups are great too..Love my stuffing and I get the bread on a big sale and freeze it and make my stuffing, spuds are not that expensive and I always have a nice veggies too that last the whole week, we like apple pie or another kind I can make in a jiffy, we do well, the leftovers make the dinner really really nice..We take a big walk after and go to a movie late in the day..we enjoy our holidays, this year we will be in another city to see our adult child and spoil her and eat at a nice place out in the boondocks, the owner is great and it is small and lovely and then we go and explore the big city she is visiting and enjoy getting her holiday gifts right then and there and her birthday gifts too..I save all year for this time together that is what Turkey Day, & the entire holidays season is for to enjoy one’s familia!